The present invention relates broadly to manifold and other “pass-through” plates, and more particularly to a such a plate having one or more ports allowing one or more of hoses, tubing, wiring, control lines, cables, fiber optics, and the like to be pass from a first side of the plate through to a second side of the plate, on one or both sides of the plate may be a contained environment.
When lines such hose, tubing, wire, cable, or fiber optics must extend from one environment to another, contained environment, or access otherwise must be provided between the two environments, means must be provide to seal the contained environment. For example, in transportation or other mobile applications such as for construction or agricultural equipment, hoses, tubing, wiring, and the like may have to pass through the firewall or other wall of the vehicle from the exterior or a space such as the passenger compartment, and into another space such as the engine compartment. Heretofore, a plastic or metal plate was used to seal the opening between the spaces. The plate was formed having a number of ports, into each of which was fitted a rubber grommet for sealing around the tubing, hose, or wiring pushed through the port. Each of the grommets typically had to be manually fitted into a corresponding one of the ports in the plate, thereby making for a labor intensive assembly. Alternatively, a pair of plates were provided, one on each side of the opening, with the grommets being sandwiched in between the plates.
It is believed that improvements in the construction of manifolds and other passthrough plates for hoses, tubing, wiring, control lines, cables, fiber optics, and the like would find utility in a variety of mobile applications, and in other applications such as in industrial or commercial hydraulic, pneumatic, or other fluid power transport or control, or in chemical processing, power generation, food processing, and other operations. A preferred construction would be economical to manufacture, but also would afford reliable sealing and would be adaptable to seal a variety of different pass-through arrangements.